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Employers Should Reimburse for Gym Memberships

Heidi Holliday is a program director for Healthy Contributions, a consulting firm for health plans and fitness clubs.

Updated February 24, 2014, 8:24 PM

The best employee compensation programs provide tangible benefits on both sides, leading employees to appreciate their employers while simultaneously resulting in measurable value to the company. One clear example would be a comprehensive wellness program, particularly one intended to reward "good behavior."

My company, Healthy Contributions, has partnered with health clubs to provide hundreds of employers and companies of all sizes with measurable results through a growing fitness network. We have found if workers who exercise at the gym at least 12 times a month are reimbursed a mere $20 a month on their fitness club membership fees, they tend to exercise three times as often as those who do not participate in the reimbursement programs. Similarly, workers who receive the reimbursements are twice as likely to renew their fitness club memberships at the end of a 12-month contract as those who do not receive the reimbursements.

The benefit to employees is clear, but the value for employers is also tangible: When employees exercise more often and eat better, morale improves, productivity increases and health care costs go down.

Healthy Contributions is based in Minnesota, where six of the largest health benefits providers offer the $20 monthly fitness incentives to their covered members. In our experience, companies that provide similar compensation directly to their employees have experienced similar positive results. These types of programs are spreading nationwide to various kinds and sizes of employers and other health plan providers. The benefits, to employers and workers, will follow.